It’s hot. And sunny. I note there is the first ever “extreme heat” warning in the UK today. We are a laughing stock….. From what I can see, London has it the worst ie 30C for a day or two, due to excess of sweating concrete and fumes. Hawkinge has a high of 23C due no doubt to a lovely sea breeze. We had something approaching 38C and guess what? Nobody needed an ambulance….. Having said that, the time is fast approaching where a/c in bedrooms across the UK is going to be the norm. I well remember back in – I think – the 90s when a/c in the car was considered a bit of a weird luxury. Now it’s totally standard and unimaginable to be without. Soon domestic a/c will be the same. No doubt new build flats and those very glass fronted houses already offer it, or they should. We are seriously considering it for our bedroom in Hawkinge. We seriously considered it last summer but frankly £1400 for one unit was a bit much….. especially when we are used to paying half that price for a bigger unit out here. But….. I’m not sure the ceiling fan is going to handle it as we go forward. We’ll have to see.

Habibi the Gardener arrived at 7am to do a couple of hours before it got too hot. He is a marvel and did a lot of sculpting work on the hedge behind the pool balustrade. He and I had a last walk around and we paid him the last bit of money owing. After that, we had breakfast, and then decided to go on a little car tour of the north west tip of the island.

We headed along the coast road to the west and then followed the road past the Gecitkoy reservoir (filled to brimming thanks to water from Mother Turkey) and then turned west again towards Camlibel. We turned NW and passed the Mavi Kosk (Blue Mansion), the old home of a gun smuggler and gangster from the 60s who ran guns in to the EOKA. It’s a fascinating house to visit. This time we didn’t stop but kept going through farmlands towards Sadrazamkoy, the last little settlement to the northwest. There really isnt much of a village there, just a collection of farms and a few new houses running down to the sea. Then we turned east, along the coast road through Kayalar. The road between the two is absolutely stunning. You drive along huge sea cliffs – HUGE – with views far, far down to the blue sea and rocky coast.

At one point we passed a little headland with an old carob warehouse and a tiny Greek Orthodox chapel right on the sea shore. It was a dirt track down to it, or we’d have visited. The swimming around the cove looked amazing and also huge dive potential. Once through Kayalar, the road was more familiar, past Horseshoe Bay and the lovely sea views along there.

• 

• 

Just after we rejoined the main road towards Lapta there was a turtle beach – Vasili Beach – with a taverna just above the sands. We decided to stop for a bite and a drink. Had a lovely omelette, Bob had a caesar salad with chicken and we enjoyed the gorgeous view over the water. We were going to swim but Bob thought he might have the onset of a headache so we decided to head back home. Explored a couple of side roads on the way and got back early afternoon.

Spent the afternoon in the pool and tonight we had a sheftali, red pepper etc bbq, Bob doing the honours.

We have started to upload our details and documents to the Verifly App. which is available to BA customers on all flights returning to the UK, amongst other options. You upload your details, flight details, vaccination cert, pcr test etc and it gives you access to a fast lane through your arrival airport. They know from the flight number etc which documents are required. Anyway, we will give it a go. All seems straightforward so far.

• 

• 

• 

Nice bbq. Lovely warm evening by the pool. Started watching Baptiste on tv.